It would be weird if someone who lived for a brief period of time as a child in a dog shelter did not want to work with animals as an adult.
“My mom was friends with, and worked for, a famous dog trainer in New Zealand; she was learning to be a trainer, and was a groomer,” says Eiffel Lai. “We lived at his home, which had a dog shelter on the property, so my earliest memories are being three and surrounded by dogs.”
As a child, for a moment, she wanted to be a singer and dancer, but she knew her real talent was caring for animals. So, her childhood dream became working at an SPCA, which then inspired the dream to become a veterinarian.
“It wasn’t a singular line to become a veterinarian,” says Lai. “I have a beagle with a chronic illness, and I thought about how I wasn’t equipped if he needed immediate help,” says Lai. “That’s when I said, ‘I am going to gain the knowledge and skills needed to help animals whenever they need help; I am going to be a veterinarian’.”
It’s safe to say that when Eiffel puts her mind to something, she works hard to get it. In September, she started her studies at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown, PEI.
Born in Hong Kong, her family immigrated to New Zealand, then Papua New Guinea, where her dad ran a fishing company. Like his daughter and wife, he too wanted to help animals, and soon enough, their home was filled with exotic and companion animals. With education on their minds, the family landed in Canada for Eiffel to start high school.
After she graduated from high school in Ontario, Eiffel moved to Nova Scotia to attend Dalhousie University’s Agricultural Campus. She studied and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Bioveterinary Science, minoring in equine science and with an undergraduate certificate in animal welfare.
“My passion is animal welfare and animal behaviour,” says Lai. “I did a lot of electives focused on those two areas.” 
We might think that getting into Veterinary school means good grades, an application, and maybe an essay. “The process to apply for veterinary school has academic requirements like pre-requisite courses and minimum grade ranges,” says Eiffel. “But they also want you to have veterinary experience – working under a veterinarian, and animal experience, working with animals.” For Lai, there was also her desire to be picked as a domestic student, which meant she had to live in Nova Scotia for two years after she earned her Bachelor of Science degree. For those two years, Eiffel would get to experience her childhood dream of working at an SPCA when she saw a job posting at the Nova Scotia SPCA Colchester Shelter.
“I was ecstatic when I saw the job posting,” she says. “I started as an animal care attendant and receptionist. My managers saw my natural ability around animal behaviours, and a year in, I was leading dog enrichment, daily care, and dog behaviours.”
Eiffel pauses when she talks about the managers at the shelter, Jenna MacKay and Jessica Murphy; she wants to make sure they are recognized for the part they played in her journey to veterinary school.
“They were more than managers, they were mentors,” she says. “Jenna spent so much time after work, late nights under parking lot lights, talking about animal behaviours, which she herself is doing a master’s program in Clinical Animal Behaviour. And Jessica, who is a Registered Veterinary Technician, answered all my medical questions and shared her love of animal medicine with me.”
Together, Lai says, they inspired her and helped her set a goal: to pursue shelter medicine after graduating from veterinary school.
“I found out I had been accepted to veterinary college to pursue a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, when I was at work. Immediately, I was surrounded by all the staff in the biggest group hug as I bawled. I am glad they were there holding me up in that hug, because my legs were shaking too,” laughs Lai. So connected is Eiffel to the team at SPCA Colchester that she asked her former managers to do her the honour of cloaking her at a very important ceremony.
“The blue coat ceremony celebrates your first step towards becoming a veterinarian. You invite people who supported you on your journey to veterinary school to come and ‘cloak’ you. When you graduate, you get the white coat,’ explains Lai. “I asked Jenna and Jessica, and my parents, to be part of the ceremony as they were all important in my journey.” While a guest per participant limit meant only her parents could attend, Lai can’t stop talking about the influence her time with Jenna and Jessica, and the Colchester SPCA in general, has had on her future plans.
During her time working in the Colchester SPCA, Eiffel saw many animals come into the shelter with behaviour issues and knows that prolonged living in a shelter environment does not help. “Employees in shelters are doing everything they can to help, but a shelter is not a home,” she says. After graduation, she plans to work in animal shelters as a vet behaviourist, so she has the capability to diagnose and treat animals both medically and behaviourally. “I want to specialize in animal behaviours to reduce an animal’s time in the shelter, developing proactive plans to prevent the development and deterioration of behavioural issues, improving welfare in shelters and adoption outcomes, making shelters even safer for staff, volunteers, and potential adopters. 
“It’s a big goal, but ultimately I want to make a meaningful impact on both shelter animals and the people who interact with them.” Eiffel believes that everyone in a shelter environment plays an important role in the well-being of companion animals and is hopeful that when it comes time for her rotations, she finds herself back at the SPCA.
“The SPCA has such a great team from reception to animal care attendants, to managers and veterinary medical staff. They all play a significant role in advocating for animals and healing animals. We all want to make a difference, me included.”